White Picket Fence Life
by Sambethe
Summary: A wish made and shared aboard the Jolly Roger.


"The one that looks like an elongated W." She leaned into Killian and pointed to call his attention to the bright constellation. "That's Cassiopeia."

Killian hummed and trailed his fingers along the inside of her elbow. "Who was she, love?"

"I'm not sure." She bit back a sigh as Killian tugged her arm towards him to plant a series of kisses along the same line his fingers had traced. "You'll have to get Henry to fill in their stories. The few names I know come from Harry Potter more than anything else."

"Who?"

Emma smiled though she knew Killian couldn't see it. "A lesson for another day."

She gently extracted her arm from his grasp and reached behind her to pull the binoculars she borrowed from Mary Margaret from her bag. She passed them over to Killian and settled back into the crook of his arm.

"What I can do, though, is show you my favorite part of the night sky."

Killian was quiet but tugged her closer as he rested his hook on her hip. She curled the fingers of her left handaround the cool metal.

"You see that bright smudge down and to the right of Cassiopeia?" She felt Killian nod and kiss the top of her head. "That's Andromeda. If you look at it through the binoculars you'll see that it isn't a star."

She watched as Killian brought the binoculars to his face. After a moment he let out a low whistle. "It's beautiful. Nebula?" he asked without glancing away.

She shook her head and unwound her hand from his hook to run her fingers along the open line of his shirt. "Galaxy."

They lay like that for a while. Her allowing her fingers to play along his exposed chest and to open the remaining buttons, letting her hand settle along his ribs. Him staring up at Andromeda. Emma imagined his eyes tracking the faint whorls of the galaxy's arms.

When he finally put down the binoculars, he moved his hand to run along her chin. He tilted it up and bent to kiss her. It was slow and heated, his mouth working her own in a lazy push-pull pattern. Once they broke apart he moved his hand to snake under her t-shirt and settle along the small of her back.

"A man could get used to this."

Emma smiled and moved to twist her fingers in the chain around his neck. She let her index finger play with his chest hair.

"What's that?"

"This. You, me, the Jolly Roger. The open water. The utter stillness. No agenda. No shouting dwarves."

He shifted them so they both lay on their sides facing one another and ran his hand along the shell of her ear. She smiled and pulled him into kiss, another slow slide of tongues that ended with her tugging his bottom lip between her teeth before releasing him.

As she pulled away he smirked at her. "Have I mentioned my appreciation of the you and me alone part?" He punctuated the question with a slide of his hand, still under her shirt, up her back, settling it at the nape of her neck.

Emma laughed and pressed one of her legs between his, pushing closer to him. "You may have made your appreciation known."

"We should do this once the weather turns warmer." He ran his hand back down along her side, letting his fingers tease along and under the waistband of her jeans. "We can take the Jolly for a few weeks. Perhaps sail down this coast you've mentioned. Henry could join us, if he liked."

The idea nestled into her chest, feeling solid and warm. She allowed herself to imagine Henry standing at the helm, Killian next to him, while she lounged in the sun. "Do you think we could?" she whispered.

"Oh, love." He reached up and curled a lock of her hair around a finger. "We could do that and more. You name what it is you desire and I shall endeavor to make it yours."

Before she could stop herself, she replied, "A house." As she heard the words tumble from her lips she felt her cheeks burn and attempted to duck her head.

Killian stopped her with a quick move of his fingers to her chin, tilting her head up to look straight at her. "Tell me about this house."

It took a beat but Emma nodded and shifted so that she was once again lying on her back. She waited for Killian to do the same so she could rest her head on his chest. As she felt Killian's hook settle on her hip, she began to describe it. "I want the whole clichéd mess. A large yard overrun with flowers, surrounded by a white picket fence. A wrap-around porch that looks out over all of it. A big, open living room with a TV and a couch you practically sink into. I want enough rooms so that Henry has his own, where he and his friends always feel welcome."

She swallowed and felt grateful she was staring up at the sky when she made the next wish. "Maybe enough so that there is space for another child someday."

Killian reached out and entwined their fingers together. "Do you, perhaps, hope that someone might share this house with you?"

It took another beat but her voice was steady when she replied, "Very much so."

She could feel Killian's answering smile as he placed a kiss to her head. "It sounds lovely, Emma."

Then, because he always could read her well, he shifted so they were once again on their sides, legs tangled together. "In the meantime, though, we should discuss this sailing trip," he said with a smirk, his hand running up her side to her shoulder. He nudged at her jacket and she helped him slip it off. "In order to do it properly, I feel we must spend stretches of days out at sea. Just us and the water." She watched as he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. "I hear tell that this realm's swimwear is something I must behold."

She laughed in answer, pinching at his side. "Are you sure this is a trip where you want to invite Henry?"

He leaned in, hovering a _hair's breadth_ from her ear. "Well, perhaps, a separate one with the lad then?"

Her reply was lost in the sweep of his tongue along her neck and the brush of his hand along her stomach. She was sure he didn't need her to say the words anyway.


End file.
